Losing Is A Disease As Contagious as Polio: My Carolina Hurricanes Offseason Wishlist.
The 2017-2018 Carolina Hurricanes Hockey season is over and the playoff drought continues for a 9th straight year. The team has been mired in inconsistency and mediocrity, and this season was no exception. From the opening night Overtime thriller against the Wild, to the third period meltdown vs Boston in March the team never seemed to maintain hold of the elusive playoff position. Like every fan of every team I have composed a wish-list of things I would like to seen done in Raleigh to change the hockey culture in Raleigh.
Note: I have deliberately left off front office moves, because I believe that there are many on ice changes that could help the team no matter who is calling the shots behind the scenes.
1.Find a true Number 1 Center. With the emergence of Sebastian Aho, and Tuevo Teravainen as a legitimate tandem of scorers, both scoring over 60 plus points respectively. The lack of a true Number 1 center in Raleigh became apparent, leaving fans to wonder how dynamic this duo could be with a legitimate number 1 center passing them the puck.
2. Make the call on the team Captain. On the eve of the season Coach Bill Peters made the bizarre decision to appoint two team captains in Justin Faulk, and Jordan Staal. This decision in many ways caused the team to lack an identity. While both players deserved the captaincy in their own right by splitting the title it left the team without a solidified leader in a weird almost split custody way. Leaving myself along with many others wondering why the decision on a sole captain could not be made.
3. Find a consistent goalie. At times the phrase "Dumpster Fire" would have been an absolutely appropriate and sometimes kind assessment of the Hurricanes goaltending situation. With both Cam Ward and Scott Darling sharing the net the entire season and taking turns looking solid, and getting lit up. With Ward turning 34 and on an expired contract and Darling's glaring inconsistencies and big contract new owner Tom Dundon is going to have to find a way to bring consistent net-minding to Raleigh.
4. Make A decision on fringe players. The word of the decade in Raleigh has been inconsistent, and there has been no better word to describe Victor Rask and Elias Lindholm. Before the season ending and Game winning goal scored by Elias Lindholm against Tampa it had been 28 games since Lindy had last lit the lamp, which is hardly acceptable for a player once chosen fifth overall. Victor Rask had his second forgettable season in a row. After signing a long term contract on the eve of the 2016-2017 season Rask has almost disappeared off the score-sheet even finding himself a healthy scratch at one point during the season. The team needs to decide whether to attempt to rebuild the confidence and salvage the careers, or move these players and make room for the next wave of Hurricanes to roll in.
5. Give the kids in Charlotte a chance. While the Canes are in a playoff drought, the Charlotte Checkers the teams AHL affiliate are once again in the Calder Cup playoffs, With players like Warren Foegele, Valentin Zykov , Lucas Wallmark, and Roland Mckeown all having Cameos and making an impact in Raleigh, fans are clamoring to see what these guys can do on a full season in the NHL.
Bonus. Stop Dwelling on 2006. I promised I would keep my wish-list to the ice, but these needs to be said. It comes across as rather "Bush League" for a professional team to dwell on past glory. Yes the 2006 season was special, but it needs to be left in the past. It seems as if we cant go a game without it being mentioned by John Forslund or Tripp Tracy. Even when attending games in person it is consistently mentioned. In order to focus on the future we must forget the past, the only time this should be mentioned is on special occasions not every single game.
This is just my wishlist for the team I love, now lets hunker down and get ready for a long offseason. Thanks for reading and Redvolution.
The Caniac Collector
Note: I have deliberately left off front office moves, because I believe that there are many on ice changes that could help the team no matter who is calling the shots behind the scenes.
1.Find a true Number 1 Center. With the emergence of Sebastian Aho, and Tuevo Teravainen as a legitimate tandem of scorers, both scoring over 60 plus points respectively. The lack of a true Number 1 center in Raleigh became apparent, leaving fans to wonder how dynamic this duo could be with a legitimate number 1 center passing them the puck.
2. Make the call on the team Captain. On the eve of the season Coach Bill Peters made the bizarre decision to appoint two team captains in Justin Faulk, and Jordan Staal. This decision in many ways caused the team to lack an identity. While both players deserved the captaincy in their own right by splitting the title it left the team without a solidified leader in a weird almost split custody way. Leaving myself along with many others wondering why the decision on a sole captain could not be made.
3. Find a consistent goalie. At times the phrase "Dumpster Fire" would have been an absolutely appropriate and sometimes kind assessment of the Hurricanes goaltending situation. With both Cam Ward and Scott Darling sharing the net the entire season and taking turns looking solid, and getting lit up. With Ward turning 34 and on an expired contract and Darling's glaring inconsistencies and big contract new owner Tom Dundon is going to have to find a way to bring consistent net-minding to Raleigh.
4. Make A decision on fringe players. The word of the decade in Raleigh has been inconsistent, and there has been no better word to describe Victor Rask and Elias Lindholm. Before the season ending and Game winning goal scored by Elias Lindholm against Tampa it had been 28 games since Lindy had last lit the lamp, which is hardly acceptable for a player once chosen fifth overall. Victor Rask had his second forgettable season in a row. After signing a long term contract on the eve of the 2016-2017 season Rask has almost disappeared off the score-sheet even finding himself a healthy scratch at one point during the season. The team needs to decide whether to attempt to rebuild the confidence and salvage the careers, or move these players and make room for the next wave of Hurricanes to roll in.
5. Give the kids in Charlotte a chance. While the Canes are in a playoff drought, the Charlotte Checkers the teams AHL affiliate are once again in the Calder Cup playoffs, With players like Warren Foegele, Valentin Zykov , Lucas Wallmark, and Roland Mckeown all having Cameos and making an impact in Raleigh, fans are clamoring to see what these guys can do on a full season in the NHL.
Bonus. Stop Dwelling on 2006. I promised I would keep my wish-list to the ice, but these needs to be said. It comes across as rather "Bush League" for a professional team to dwell on past glory. Yes the 2006 season was special, but it needs to be left in the past. It seems as if we cant go a game without it being mentioned by John Forslund or Tripp Tracy. Even when attending games in person it is consistently mentioned. In order to focus on the future we must forget the past, the only time this should be mentioned is on special occasions not every single game.
This is just my wishlist for the team I love, now lets hunker down and get ready for a long offseason. Thanks for reading and Redvolution.
The Caniac Collector
I like your article, if you concede to the fact not all your points can be dealt with this year AND they must be made priority.
ReplyDeleteBy reevaluating the prospect base those not in the future of the team can be traded away for something during the year before we let them go over the summer. I personally think the best part of the Hanifin/Lindholm/Hamilton/Ferland/Fox trade for the long term will be Fox and Hamilton or Hanifin allows more left defence to get icetime.
Getting a star center isn't going to be possible this year but getting a future center (Dahlin - nucks, Glass - knights, etc) is though they will be 2 years out. Getting a young center like Schmaltz is a nice catch but only a band-aide for now (we need more face-off skilled centers).
Goal means flubbing for a bit (hope the 2 we have will work for this year) and jumping (college, draft, or free agent) at the next best goalie available and making sure Carolina is a place (like you said winning attitude) where a player would want to go...
Hey Thanks for the response. It's a wish list and clearly they can't all be met in one off-season(except for waxing nostalgia about 2006). I look for the goal situation to improve significantly this year though.
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